


Emily & Anne

by VikTay



Category: Literary RPF, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Brontë, Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
Genre: Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 02:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10607208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VikTay/pseuds/VikTay
Summary: Emily messages Anne to talk about their novels and somehow they end up talking about their lives as well (a little).





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So i'm in my final sem of uni now, and the same prof from last time assigned another fun assignment. So I wrote a dialogue between Emily and Anne Brontë that mostly deals with Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The assignment was supposed to be 1.8k words, but I ended up with 3.4k-ish cause i was having too much fun. As usual, I don't own anything except my own craziness. Anyways, hope y'all like it!

 

 **Emily:** OMG. ANNNNNNNN!!!!!!

 **Anne:** What happened??? 

 **Anne:** Are the demonic hordes coming? 

 **Emily:** Nope

 **Anne:** Or are you finally ready to repent and join us in the grace of our good Lord? 

 **Emily:** What? Eww, NO! I greatly enjoy my freedom here on earth, dear sister.

 **Anne:** Sigh. Hope springs eternal in my bosom. I continue to pray that you will repent and be granted salvation. 

 **Emily:** Ok. Erm, thanks Anne. 

 **Emily:** Moving on, guess what happened just now???

 **Anne:** You saw the error of your ways and decided to repent?

 **Emily** : NO

 **Emily:** Can we PLEASE move on. 

 **Emily:** Anyway, I was drifting around the moors and happened upon a bunch of people dressed like we used to dress, back when we were alive!

 **Anne:** Oh, have petticoats and corsets come back into fashion? I personally quite liked the ladies’ pocketwatch that was very fashionable back in the day.

 **Anne:** Wait. EMILY. DID YOU INVOKE GOD JUST TO INFORM ME ABOUT MORTAL FASHION TRENDS?!

 **Emily:** What, no. My goodness, Anne, I’m the daughter of a clergyman too, you know? 

 **Anne:** And here I thought you had long forgotten God in your d—m—d existence as a spirit, forever doomed to roam the earthly plain, until you REPENT.

 **Emily:** ANNE! I thought we have moved on. 

 **Emily:** Now, are you going to listen to what I witnessed or do I have to go find Charlotte? We both know how much she hates _Wildfell Hall_.

 **Anne:** Oh, it’s about _Wildfell Hall_. I see. Please continue, dear Emily, I will strive to not interrupt.

 **Emily:** Much like how your characters have a strange tolerance for being able to sit still and discern full conversations through eavesdropping?

 **Anne:** Is this going to be one of those things where you air all your unfounded grievances against me? I thought we had buried all hatchets and regained our sisterly love?

 **Emily:** Only cause we don’t actually have to live together anymore. 

 **Emily:** Ok, back to the topic. 

 **Emily:** So I was happily floating along the air currents, roaming the moors to see the vegetation and animal life, enjoying the feeling of the breeze passing through me, etc &etc. And suddenly, I happen upon this large gathering of people, around fifty in number, of whom around ten are dressed in clothing from our time. The rest were all in modern attire and held all manner of strange items. So, being the inquisitive soul that I am, I decided to investigate this strange invasion of my natural sanctuary. Lo and behold, I hear a girl dressed in nothing but a shift, a thin chemise, call out, with much desperation, “Heathcliff!”

 **Anne:** Your Heathcliff?

 **Emily:** Yes, MY Heathcliff. the male half of the couple in my _Wuthering Heights_. 

 **Anne:** My word. Is this some sort of time lapse? Or goodness, Emily, are you quite alright? Could wandering the earth have caused some mental difficulties? 

 **Emily:** No, I am perfectly fine, I am not Catherine Earnshaw, to confuse the past, the present and fantasy. If you had not interrupted me, like you said you would not, you would have found out that the people holding those strange items are what these modern people call a “film crew” and the others are actors. They are filming an adaptation of _Wuthering Heights_! My book is going to become a “movie!”

 **Anne:** What is a “movie?”

 **Emily:** It is like a stage play, except it is recorded by cameras, those strange items I saw, and then it is made available to the whole world. When it is done, people in India, the Far East and America will be able to see my novel, my writing, performed as if they were in the novel itself.

 **Anne:** Oh, I see. 

 **Anne:** So, you invoked God to gloat over me? That is a great sin, and you really should repent.

 **Emily:** No. I will not repent. I am perfectly happy here, there are no men and no rules by which I am bound. Also, I did not tell you this to gloat. I was going to share that this “movie” is part of a series on the “BBC” that celebrates our achievements. They have also adapted Charlotte’s _Jane Eyre_ and are going to adapt your _Wildfell Hall_ next. 

 **Anne:** Oh, this is a celebration! And I apologise for thinking ill of you, dear Emily. 

 **Anne:** Do you want me to inform Charlotte? 

 **Emily:** Sigh, you always think the worst of me, much like your characters in _Wildfell Hall_ always go for the worst possible explanation of Helen’s behaviour. 

 **Emily:** Also, it is alright, I will inform Charlotte later, I know she still gets unpleasant whenever she’s reminded of _Wildfell Hall_. 

 **Anne:** Yes, Charlotte has always been protective of us. 

 **Anne:** Also, you know that I wrote the characters like that because it is the truth. People will always think the worst, and even exaggerate the worst, so as to impugn the honour of women who do not fit into what they expect a woman to be.

 **Emily:** Unfortunately, that is true, and even if life is much better now, this remains a universal fact. 

 **Anne:** Sigh. I will continue to keep humanity in my prayers.

 **Emily:** So you still believe in universal salvation? That everyone in the world can be saved? 

 **Anne:** YES. To quote myself, “God, who hateth nothing that He hath made, will bless it in the end!”

 **Emily:** Oh yes, I greatly remember that line from _Wildfell Hall_. Honestly, if I did not know you, I would have found your Helen to be unrealistically religious. 

 **Anne:** Why do you say so? Do you not think that religion could have saved both Catherine and Heathcliff from their excess of selfish passions?

 **Emily:** Did Helen’s strong religious conviction help save Arthur Huntingdon? 

 **Anne:** Yes it did. I strongly believe so. On his deathbed, Arthur murmured something, and while I did not write it into the narrative, I, and Helen, firmly believe that he repented. Helen’s innate goodness and Christian conviction managed to save him at the last minute.

 **Emily:** Then why was a priest of some sort not summoned to perform the last rites? 

 **Anne:** Well, that is because priests are not necessarily more moral than other mortals. Helen, with her unpretentious and true inner Christian virtue and faith, is the only person that could possibly have saved the completely degenerate Huntingdon.

 **Emily:** I agree with your opinions about the hypocrisy of the Church, dear Anne, even if it is a tad ironic considering the fact that you are now in Christian Heaven.

 **Anne:** Posh. It is just proof that what is most important is one’s inner faith and virtue, and not one’s performance of what is expected. It’s like how Richard Milton and Miss Millward had their happy ending despite them not seeming to be heading towards it. Often, the most humble and inconspicuous exterior will disguise great virtue while the most pious performer is just hiding his immoral sins.

 **Emily:** You mean like Huntingdon? Or like Hargrave and Markham? Actually, I have always wondered, why did you have Helen remarry at the end? Is Markham not the same as Hargrave? Both of them are indulged eldest sons who do not truly think about the welfare of their families. What makes Gilbert different from Walter?

 **Anne:** Indeed. The difference between Huntingdon and Gilbert is marked and easy, Huntingdon is completely without limit. He is a sensualist, indulging in all manner of sensory experiences, from food and drink to hunting and affairs, he is not and will not be held back by any force, be it that of society or God. Gilbert is different in that he is able to control himself. From the beginning of the novel, I tell the readers that while Gilbert has been indulged by his mother, and is throughly her favourite by far, he himself has also made sacrifices for his family. He has immersed himself in his responsibilities and takes care of the family farm, despite his personal wishes to the contrary. He is also able to behave within social mores, remaining mostly polite to people he does not like throughout the novel. 

 **Emily:** Ok, but what about Gilbert and Walter?

 **Anne:** I suppose this also differentiates him from Walter, who while appearing to perform piety and forbearance, proves through his actions that he is just a pretender. Unlike Gilbert who actually does work and remains largely responsible throughout the novel, Walter is shown to be extremely selfish and willing to resort to lies and force to achieve his goals. Personally, I find the greatest difference to be their treatment of Helen. Gilbert backs off and truly acknowledges that they cannot be together due to first her religious beliefs and conscience as a married woman, then due to her elevated social circumstances. He is circumspect and keeps within the boundaries that she sets, once he finds out that she has good reason for them. The only truly ill-advised and passionate things he does can all be attributed to his lack of information, about Helen’s relationship with Lawrence and the wedding at Grassdale. 

 **Emily:** That is true, to an extent. So you are saying that Gilbert’s temperance is what gives him the right to, what is by all accounts, a happy ending?

 **Anne:** Indeed. His temperance is a striking contrast to all the other men in _Wildfell Hall_. Everyone else is ruled by some sort of indulgence, from Reverend Millward and his dietary indulgences, to Arthur Huntingdon and his myriad excesses. Temperance of passion is key to the attainment of a happy ending. 

 **Emily:** Ok. But I somehow feel as if Gilbert is also a tad hypocritical. I mean he also judges and tries to assert his way. Yes, he backs off when he realises that Helen is bound by conscience, but his continued devotion just makes me remember Walter. I wonder at times if Gilbert may have been driven to the same lengths had he ben in the same circumstances that Walter was in.

 **Anne:** It is undeniable that Gilbert can be hypocritical, I never set out to write completely blameless characters, but it is also true that he is much less forceful than Walter. Yes, Gilbert also ignores Helen’s wishes for him to leave her alone, but ultimately, he makes the choice to give her up when he is at Staningley, to give her peace. He also does not overstep his boundaries when they are separated, remaining within social expectations in his enquiries about her.

 **Emily:** But in that ending, it is precisely his lack of temperance that gives him the chance to meet Helen and reconfirm their feelings for each other. Actually, my main issue is that given the similarities between Gilbert and Walter, had the situations in which they met Helen been reversed, could Helen have chosen Walter instead?

 **Anne:** That is a good question. But the reversal of the men’s circumstances would necessitate the removal of an important characteristic of Walter, namely that he is one of Huntingdon’s degenerate friends. This marks his character very strongly, for he judges himself based on their standards, and considers himself superior due to that. In contrast, Gilbert judges himself based on the standards of those around him, people involved in lesser indulgences, like the vicar and his daughters. While both communities have their share of corruption, the key difference between Walter and Gilbert is that Gilbert is self-reflexive. 

 **Emily:** So that’s why you made Gilbert the narrator?

 **Anne:** Yes, by giving my readers Gilbert’s thoughts, I want them to see how he develops as well, and how he repents of his own corruption. His intemperance regarding Helen is both romantic and spiritual, as he feels that they have been united in spirit, which I meant to imply that her inner goodness and his have found a companion. They have both developed and both arrive at a stage where they suit each other best. So Gilbert’s intemperance can be seen not as a physical, mortal indulgence, but as a spiritual need to save his soulmate. 

 **Emily:** So physical temperance and spiritual awakening are the key ingredients of a happy ending?

 **Anne:** Yes.

 

* * *

 

 **Emily:** You know, I sometimes wonder if your preaching temperance is due to Branwell?

 **Anne:** Emily. 

 **Emily:** I’m sorry. I should not have mentioned that. But at least you had your literary vengeance?

 **Anne:** Indeed. For all that it helped our dear brother. 

 **Emily:** Now Anne, it is not your fault. Remember your own Preface to the second edition? I’m sure that your writing has saved more than one young person from a similar fate, and do not tell me you did not get at least a small amount of pleasure out of finally giving Mrs Robinson her just desserts, even if only in fiction?

 **Anne:** You know me well, sister. Yes, giving Annabella her just desserts made me feel some measure of satisfaction, a small sense that I have helped right the wrongs of the world. 

 **Emily:** Precisely. Although, I do not exactly agree with your opinion about restraint and temperance. After all, it was social mores and logical thinking that resulted in the original separation of Catherine and Heathcliff, the start of the tragedy that befell the Heights and the Grange. Perhaps if they had indulged their passions and decided to d—mn society, they could have been happier in life. 

 **Anne:** Oh Emily, they could not have. Remember that even as I “preach” temperance, as you say, my novel and yours exist in similar societies. There would have been no way for Catherine and Heathcliff to flout social mores and live happily. In fact, personally, I found that _Withering Heights_ would have been less depressing if only Hindley had had some restraint. 

 **Emily:** I see what you mean. If only Hindley had been more like Helen, for even Gilbert’s level of restraint is insufficient for him. For Hindley had to forgive the intrusion of Heathcliff into his family as a child, for he saw Heathcliff as an alien, a threat to his position as the favoured son. He had to have the Christian charity to accept this strange child and call him brother. That would perhaps have solved the root of the problems that entangle Heathcliff and Catherine. 

 **Anne:** Indeed, for much like the men in my novel, the characters in yours are also drawn into greater indulgences of passions once that goes by. Although the figures of the Lintons are highly interesting to me. For they have no socially reprehensible indulgences, and are lauded as a highly respectable family, and yet, I cannot bring myself to like them.

 **Emily:** I see you noticed it. Even the Lintons have their indulgences. Both Edgar and Isabella are spoilt by their parents, they are highly judgemental and reflect society’s viewpoints. Isabella and your Helen are also highly similar…

 **Anne:** You noticed that? Yes, Helen is meant to be a rewriting of Isabella of sorts, a what-if scenario to show that good women can do more than suffer and die once they make the wrong choice. Like Isabella’s marriage to Heathcliff, Helen decides to marry Huntingdon despite all advice to the contrary. She, like Isabella, is determined to reform her rogue. However, unlike your Isabella, my Helen never gives up. She also escapes her husband to protect her son, but she chooses to return to him on his sickbed, so that she can perform her wifely Christian duty. That choice allows her the ability to achieve her aim at the last moment.

 **Emily:** Your optimism really knows no bounds, and Huntingdon’s illness is such a convenient plot point. Heathcliff, unlike your physically deficient Huntingdon, is too strong to succumb to such mortal maladies. His only illness was as a child, and then that exposure to the elements that he engineered so that his physical body might weaken enough for his spirit to be free to join Catherine in their eternal sojourn. 

 **Anne:** I admit to tweaking plot points to make my point, but could Heathcliff not shown some sort of restraint or temperance in his dealings with the children? His passions essentially ruined his son’s life, along with a good portion of the lives of Catherine’s daughter and Hareton. I wondered why Heathcliff could not find it in himself to love Catherine’s daughter, for the child was the final moments of her mother.

 **Emily:** But Catherine’s daughter was too visibly Edgar’s, a constant reminder of the societally acceptable marriage that had separated Heathcliff from Catherine, a reminder of why Catherine was so physically weak that she died. Rather than Catherine’s daughter, Hareton was better able to dredge up his human sympathy due to his being so similar to Heathcliff and having some of Catherine’s features, but without the accompanying thoughts of Catherine’s death. This situation is greatly unlike Gilbert and Arthur Junior, as the child is the main matchmaker for Helen and Gilbert, is he not?

 **Anne:** Indeed, I felt that the bond between mother and child had to be emphasised, for is it not a woman’s duty to nurture her child and raise him to be a good Christian? The overall lack of parental guidance in _Wuthering Heights_ made me think it exceedingly strange. Much like Mrs Gaskell blaming Father for all that went wrong with our lives.

 **Emily:** Oh yes, Mrs Gaskell’s biography caused a huge stir in Heaven did it not? Father must have been apoplectic.

 **Anne:** He was very mad and Charlotte was very sorry.

 

* * *

 

 **Emily:** Hey Anne, do you remember Gondal?

 **Anne:** Of course.

 **Emily:** Your Helen reminded me of Gondal. She was so strong and so determined to save the world without having anyone save her. A martyr, but still such a strong woman.

 **Anne:** Gondal is important to me too. I guess having Helen tell half of the story also lets the readers see how she develops. She changes from Isabella and becomes someone that would fit right into Gondal, I think.

 **Emily:** She would. Having her maternity be a turning point in her stance was also good, cause Isabella never changed. That need to protect a weaker male only came from Catherine Junior, and none of the others. The act of sacrifice to achieve that, where Helen resigns herself to social infamy and poverty while Catherine Junior agrees to associate with, then marry Linton, is an important emphasis on the quiet sacrifices that women make in patriarchal society i think.

 **Anne:** Yes. I think we both remained true to Gondal in our novels. They both hinge the salvation of men and the happy endings on the women. The men cannot be happy unless the women are willing. This, I think, is think is our greatest contribution to fiction of our time. For where else could a woman be noticed, where else could she be more than what she is told to be?

 

* * *

 

 **Emily:** Anne, why do you want to stay in Christian Heaven? Is it not merely a continuation of earthly society, with all its restrictions and its emphasis on the Word of the Father?

 **Anne:** It is what makes me happy. I need some structure to be happy and Heaven is less repressive than our lives were. At least we are all equal here, all angels in the eyes of God. No longer are we defined by class or wealth, but instead it is our virtue that defines us, much like what I tried to imply in the ending of _Wildfell Hall_. 

 **Emily:** That’s great for you. But I have always hated restrictions of all sorts. Nature is my true home, and like Catherine and Heathcliff, roaming the moors of our childhood home is my paradise in my afterlife, much as it was my sanctuary in life. 

 **Anne:** So I suppose that much like our novels, we are each happy where we are?

 **Emily:** Indeed. You enjoy temperance, some society and divine approval, and so you deserve your divine reward. 

 **Anne:** And you, dear Emily, love Nature, freedom and the complete lack of restrictions that being a spirit on Earth affords you.

 

* * *

 

 **Emily:** Does this mean you will stop telling me to repent?

 **Anne:** Will my cessation result in you making contact more often?

 **Emily:** Well, the connection to Heaven is a little spotty in the moors…

 **Anne:** Emily.

 **Emily:** Just kidding. Yup. If you stop preaching, I will contact you everyday if I can. After all, you know I love you most.

 **Anne:** And I you, dear Emily.

**Author's Note:**

> Good work if you've gotten to this note! My formatting is beyond simple cause I have no idea how to format this dialogue beyond it being a simple dialogue, so meh. Also, I may or may not be doing an audio version of this, cause my friends have been goading me. If I do end up doing it, I'll come back and add a a link. If not, just know that the last week of the last sem of uni is no joke and the stress bunnies of self-expectation have absconded with all my energy.


End file.
